Just what has Britain got to be proud of ?

[ivanhoe]

The British Empire was built on the slave trade.

Right wing Capitalism continues to use the poor as fodder for making the rich richer.

Just what has Britain got to be proud of ?

The roads here are really not as bad as you seem to think - I've driven through Canada, Spain and France (for example) and found them totally comparable to those in the UK. Ie. new ones are lovely, heavily used routes are OK, but have spots ruined by lorries, housing estate roads directly relate to the age of the estate, and country tracks are totally variable in quality.

In comparison to roads in less developed countries our roads and transport are amazing.

It's very easy to criticize when you've only driven tourist routes and toll roads.

Im not refering to myself nokiss.

Im refering to the very bad way we look after our elderly people.

Via the lowest State pension in Europe.

But we do give them medical care which is free at the point of delivery, unlike many places.

ivanhoe your title started with "what has britain got to be proud of ?" thats a very general statement, i agree britain doesnt tick all the boxes, but which country does ? The answer is none! Britsin is still in my opinion the best, perhaps out of a bad lot.

In the end its the people that make the country, so instead of complaining why not lets try to make small changes wherever we are.

One thing I think Britain should be rightly proud of is our tolerance to other races & religions.

I've traveled extensively around the world and I truly believe that in the UK we are more tolerant and multicultural than any other country I've been to. Yes ok we're not perfect but by god we're a mile ahead of other countries.

And yes I include the USA. That was a big surprise to me because I'd always thought America was the standard to aspire to but I found all it was was they've learned to not talk about the elephant in the room. If you walk around with your eyes open it's a very divided nation. Whites are at the top. Blacks & hispanics at the bottom.

That said one thing i wish we'd learn from America is to see success as a positive thing. Over there if you are successful and make a lot of money in business then people are happy for you and you are seen to be an inspiration for others to follow. In Britain if you are successful then people want you to pay more tax as well as claiming you've only gotten rich off the "poor workers" and slagged off at every opportunity.

niceguy you say it so well.

The problem I have with many British people is political ignorants and naivety. For many people the days of the Empire reign high.

Europe leads the world in Social Democracy, industry and manufacturing, and much better funded education systems.

They also treat their elderly much better than we do.

We British are not a tolerant nation, we just like to think we are.

We are largely introverted, infantile, and small minded, the only country couNtry worse than us is the USA.

Ivanhoes, one could say a problem with some British people is a certain, shall we say, political & intellectual arrogance....I agree with you on the treatment of the elderly, but you do come across as prone to generalise & quick to resort to insults. I could of course be wrong, but it gives the impression that your life experience is quite limited...

As for 'many people the days of the Empire reign high', I don't know what sort of circles you move in, but this seems rather far-fetched. It's still within living memory for some, but not many. Before too long it'll simply be history. I work with & know a lot of people from all walks of life & I can't say I know anyone for whom this holds true. Anyone else?

we haven't even had an empire for about 60 years (?) so if there is anybody who does still think like that they're going to be pretty old (& probably fairly dotty )

"we British are not a tolerant nation" - how many individual British people do you know, personally, well enough to assess their tolerance, ivanhoe?

I dunno, we seem to tolerate you just fine even though your political views are clearly extreme and you are quick to resort to insults.

oh I wouldn't say that, niceguy